A letter to the Editor from Orleans 1 about VPharm Cuts
The following is a letter that my district mate and I wrote. It appeared in the Newport Daily Express last Friday.
Representatives Wheeler and Lewis Respond to Possible VPharm Cuts
There is no doubt these are tough times in our state and our nation. That fact was highlighted to those of us in the legislature during the governor’s budget address last Thursday. While we understand that the governor has to make many challenging decisions, decisions that we know he hated to make, when we ran for office we vowed to work hard for our constituents of all parties, but most important, we promised to fight for our seniors.
In saying that, the two of us agree that we respectfully disagree with the governor when it comes to his plans to cut the VPharm program. This program is designed to help needy people, mostly seniors, pay for their prescription medications. Many of these seniors have no way to increase their budgets to pay for the additional expenses associated with having to kick in more money to pay for their medications. We fear that some of these seniors will stop paying for their medications, putting their health, and even their lives, at risk.
Response from home about the proposed VPharm cuts has been swift. A number of older people have told us the way things are going they are not going to be afford to live although they are far from ready to die. The following quote is from a person who has contacted us.
“Why is it we work all our lives paying taxes on everything and then when we are older, our income is limited, our ability to work is diminished, and the government, who did not hesitate to take our money in our younger years, wants to push us aside - are our lives not worth anything anymore?”
In closing, we’d like to say that we are concerned with all of our constituents, especially our most valuable contingents.